Silver Spring man arrested in connection with death of Gaithersburg football standout

Jefferson Daniel Delgado charged with first-degree murder; held without bail

Onlookers use cell phones to photograph the scene where Michael Kirby Alvarado was found shot to death Thursday afternoon on a sidewalk in the Streamside Apartments in Gaithersburg.

Police investigate the scene where Michael Kirby Alvarado was found shot to death Thursday afternoon on a sidewalk in the Streamside Apartments on the 400 block of North Summit Avenue in Gaithersburg.

Dan Gross/The Gazette

A State Police helicopter searches for two people in the area where Michael Kirby Alvarado was found shot to death Thursday afternoon on a sidewalk in the Streamside Apartments in Gaithersburg.

Dan Gross/The Gazette

Police look under cars in the parking lot near where Michael Kirby Alvarado was found shot to death Thursday afternoon on a sidewalk in the Streamside Apartments on the 400 block of North Summit Avenue in Gaithersburg.

Dan Gross/The Gazette

Police investigate the scene where Michael Kirby Alvarado was found shot to death Thursday afternoon on a sidewalk in the Streamside Apartments on the 400 block of North Summit Avenue in Gaithersburg.

Dan Gross/The Gazette

Onlookers use cell phones to photograph the scene where Michael Kirby Alvarado was found shot to death Thursday afternoon on a sidewalk in the Streamside Apartments in Gaithersburg.

On Monday, prosecutors asked at a court hearing that he be held without bail.

Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Herdman said Delgado was a flight risk and said police had recovered a gun that they believed had been used in the slaying.

John Lavigne, Delgado’s attorney, asked District Court Judge Barry A. Hamilton that a bail be set for Delgado, a contractor who he said lives in the area but had been working in Florida. Police have said he lived on Quebec Terrace, but online court records list an address for him at Dawson Avenue. Hamilton denied Lavigne’s request.

Police have not shed light on what might have motivated Alvarado’s killing.

Several members of Delgado’s family attended the hearing, but declined to speak to reporters.

Alvarado’s slaying sent investigators combing the area around the Streamside Apartments complex on North Summit Avenue last week in search of suspects. Initially, police were looking for two men — one dressed in all black, and one dressed in a black and white striped shirt. The shooting and manhunt had four local schools in a “shelter in place” or lockdown status Thursday. According to Delgado’s charging documents, police identified and spoke with one of the men, who then identified Delgado as the shooter.

Police arrested Delgado at around 8 p.m. Friday in Silver Spring when they stopped a car he was in. Delgado tried to flee during the stop, according to a statement police released detailing his arrest.

Alvarado made his mark at Gaithersburg High School as a scholar athlete, earning a full scholarship to the College of William & Mary in 2006, according to his former high school football coach Kreg Kephart.

“The news of this hit me like I was punched in the gut. Michael was one of the finest leaders we have ever had on this team,” Kephart said, recalling one speech Alvarado made before a game against Damascus High School. Kephart said Alvarado asked to give the pre-game talk and pulled out a full-page speech he read to his team.

“It was as good or better than anything I could have done,” Kephart said.

Alvarado, who was co-captain of his high school team, was named to the county’s 2005 All-Gazette football team and the Washington Post’s 2005 All Met team.

At William & Mary, Alvarado played nickelback on the 2009 squad that made it to the national semifinals of the Football Champion Series, according to the college’s athletic department spokesperson Pete Clawson. He played for the school from 2006 to 2009.

“He had a good personality and from my perspective was always pretty easy to deal with,” Clawson said.

Kevin Parrish, a Gaithersburg High math teacher and former basketball coach, remembered Alvarado as a player who had unlimited potential.

“He was one of the most athletic kids we had. If he had wanted to play basketball in college he could have done that too,” Parrish said. “He was so full of life...this is just really sad.”

Alvarado’s homicide sent four nearby schools into lockdown while investigators scoured the streets with K-9 teams and helicopters in search of two people who witnesses said they saw leaving the crime scene on foot Thursday afternoon.

Capt. Jim Daly, a county police spokesman, said police get many calls to that area because it’s densely populated.